Maureen Pranghofer

My advice would be don’t worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow and in the future. Enjoy every minute you have right now ‘cause you’re never going to have that minute again. Be truthful and don’t be afraid of people. Know that God loves you very much.

Maureen Pranghofer

My name is Maureen Pranghofer. I was born way back in 1954 on April 10th. The day I was supposed to be born was the Fourth of July. It’s a miracle that I’m here with you. God wanted me alive.

There’s a problem when a baby comes out too early. I’ve had to live life with those challenges of sometimes being in a wheelchair, of wearing a leg brace, of sometimes using a walker, sometimes using crutches, sometimes being in a power-chair.

I really liked school. I liked learning, I liked reading. But because I was blind, I had to read a little differently.

Now, there’s different ways that people can be blind. Some people can’t see anything at all. Some people can see a little bit. Well, I was in the part that could see a little bit. So, if I had very big letters in my book, I could read large print. And I could see colors if they were bright enough. And I could see objects if they were familiar.

When I got into college, my vision changed. I got something called a cataract and that made my vision much worse. Then later on in life I was in an accident and lost all the vision that I had. I can’t see any light anymore. So it’s a really good thing I learned Braille when I was a teenager.

When I was a teenager, I used to go to Camp Courage where we had a race. It was a breakfast cereal-eating race to see which table could eat the most breakfast cereal. I’m happy to say that our table won because the guy sitting next to me ate twelve boxes of Frosted Flakes. And the person that did that became my husband. That’s Paul.

Paul’s very handy with holding things in his mouth and holding things in his toes. We have a special van that he drives with his feet. Sometimes people think I’m driving and that’s even scarier ‘cause I can’t see where we’re going!

The two of us really enjoy life. It might look to some people like I have a lot of challenges because of my disabilities, but it has taught me a lot. It has taught me that with faith, all things are possible. And that it has taught me that one of the biggest things you could do in your life is to not be angry with people. And to forgive people.